White Paper
Getting the Most From Your
Oracle Database Support
Table of Contents
Introduction
4
Executive Summary
4
Oracle Lifetime Support Policy5
Oracle Virtualization Support Policy5
Oracle Database Release Analysis
6
Oracle Database 11.1 and Earlier Releases
6
Oracle Database 11.2 Release
6
Oracle Database 12c: Release7
Options Oracle Database Licensees Should Consider on All Releases
8
Key Advantages of Independent Support 8
The Software Vendor Support Model Is Expensive and Outdated
9
Fairness and Relevance of Vendor Support Model Questioned
9
IT Spending Categories
9
Next Steps: You Have a Choice of Annual Support Providers
10
A Better Option: Oracle Database Licensees Realize
Value with Rimini Street10
Database Licensees
11
For More Information
11
Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
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White Paper
Executive Summary
With more than 300,000 installs, Oracle® is recognized as the leading database
even among SAP customers. It is mature and stable and more than supports your
business requirements. There are typically few issues, so your support tickets with
Oracle are most likely rare.
However, there are several pain points for many Oracle Database customers. First
is total cost of ownership (TCO) — including the high cost of operating, maintaining
and upgrading the database. Secondly, Oracle Database customers are constantly
concerned about performance, availability and security. And finally, the limitations
of Oracle’s support policies for Oracle Database in a virtualized environment have
caused many companies not to virtualize Oracle Database.
This white paper summarizes the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy for Oracle
Technology products (including its policy on supporting a virtualized Oracle
Database), analyzes the strategic roadmap for customers using specific releases
of Oracle Database under Oracle annual support, and concludes with actionable
recommendations for Oracle Database licensees. Major points:
―― There is limited return on investment (ROI) in upgrading from today’s featurerich database releases.
―― You can save significant funds by leveraging independent support to reduce
maintenance fees and related costs.
―― Your current Oracle Database release can run your operations for decades
to come.
―― Independent support can help you reduce risk and leave options open for
new technologies.
Independent support from Rimini Street replaces Oracle support for your Oracle
Database, enabling you to save 50 percent annually and up to 1.5 times your
total vendor support fees over a decade, including the avoidance of expensive
forced upgrades.
Oracle Database licensees are choosing independent support from Rimini Street for
substantial cost savings, guaranteed ultra-responsive support, premium features
and reduced risk — and because today, hundreds of world-class organizations have
already validated that independent support is a proven option.
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Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
Oracle Lifetime Support Policy
Oracle has standardized its support policies across many different organically
developed and acquired product lines. This policy is known today as the Oracle
Lifetime Support Policy 1, and it sets consistent support policies, prices and
timelines for most Oracle products. While standardization has its benefits, Oracle
is reluctant to negotiate any exceptions to or deviations from its standard
Lifetime Support Policy.
Oracle’s standard Lifetime Support Policy has three phases:
―― Premier Support: Oracle’s standard support, typically lasting for five years from
general availability (GA) at a cost of 22 percent of your license fee and often
accompanied by annual increases with each renewal.
―― Extended Support: Increase of 10 percent in Year 1 over the cost of Premier
Support, plus an additional 20 percent in Years 2 and 3; limited bug fixes, with less
commitment to interoperability updates and third-party platform certifications.
Extended Support lasts for three years following the end of Premier Support and
is not always offered.
―― Sustaining Support: Fixes, updates and critical patch updates (CPUs) created
during the Premium Support phase. Sustaining Support specifically excludes
new updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, CPUs (Critical Patch Updates) and
new product certifications. The cost is 22 percent of your original license fee
and lasts indefinitely.
Oracle Virtualization Support Policy
Although Oracle says it provides support for a virtualized database with thirdparty vendors, the reality is less convincing. Oracle states: “Oracle will only provide
support for issues that either are known to occur on the native OS, or can be
demonstrated not to be as a result of running on VMware.”2 This can result in fingerpointing among vendors, with customers not receiving the support they need — or
simply refraining from moving their databases to a virtual machine. In fact, a direct
result of Oracle’s support policy is that a far lower percentage of customers
have virtualized Oracle Database compared to those who have virtualized nonOracle databases.
1 Oracle Corporation, Oracle Lifetime Support Policy, Oracle Technology Products, December 2016.
2 Oracle Corporation, Support Position for Oracle Products Running on VMWare Virtualized
Environments, ID 249212.1, November, 2010
Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
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Oracle Database Release Analysis
Release
GA Date
Premier Support Ends
Extended Support Ends
Sustained Support Ends
8.1.7
Sep 2000
Dec 2004
Dec 2006
Indefinite
9.2
Jul 2002
Jul 2007
Jul 2010
Indefinite
10.1
Jan 2004
Jan 2009
Jan 2012
Indefinite
10.2
Jul 2005
Jul 2010
Jul 2013
Indefinite
11.1
Aug 2007
Aug 2012
Aug 2015
Indefinite
11.2
Sep 2009
Jan 2015
Dec 2020
Indefinite
12.1 EE
Jun 2013
Jul 2018
Jul 2021
Indefinite
12.1 SE
Jun 2013
Aug 2016
Not Available
Indefinite
12.1 SE1
Jun 2013
Aug 2016
Not Available
Indefinite
12.1 SE2
Sep 2015
Jul 2018
Jul 2021
Indefinite
Figure 1: Oracle Database end-of-support dates by release
Oracle Database 11.1 and Earlier Releases
If you use Oracle Database 11.1 or a prior release, you’re already on Sustaining
Support and therefore receiving virtually no support (along with users of Oracle 12.1
Standard Edition and Oracle 12.1 Standard Edition 1). Many users refer to this stage
as “de-support.” Seventy-four percent of Oracle Database users have some instances
that receive Sustaining Support3.
Amazingly, Oracle customers are still paying 22 percent simply for old patches
and fixes.
Users of Oracle Database 11.1 and earlier releases should consider the following
important points:
―― You are limited to Sustaining Support and yet are probably quite happy with the
database itself. Twenty-two percent of your original license fees goes to a support
offering that doesn’t provide CPUs or even attempts to address new fixes for your
issues; this delivers practically no value.
―― Upgrading to Oracle Database 12c is very complicated, and apart from offering the
questionable benefit of multitenancy, 12c delivers little business value. Upgrading
to 12c from release levels 8, 9 and 10.1 is a complex two-step process, requiring the
intermediate stage of an upgrade to 11g. Rimini Street recommends postponing
an upgrade to 12c until you really need the functionality.
Oracle Database 11.2 Release
Oracle Database 11g is widely considered to be a very solid product, offering robust
functionality and very few issues. There are distinctions to consider regarding the
11.2 patch sets noted below:
3 Rimini Street Survey Report, “The Hidden Truths about Oracle Database Support,” 2016.
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Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
Important considerations for 11.2.0.3 and earlier patch set customers:
―― If you are running 11.2.0.3 or earlier patch sets, you are in a similar situation to
release 11.1. While technically not in Sustaining Support, this release has limited
coverage according to the Oracle “Error Correction Policy.” Specifically no bug
fixes, no patches, no CPU/SPUs, no PSUs, no BPs have been produced since
August 28, 2015.4
―― This means that while you continue to pay full price for your maintenance fees
you have only access to old fixes and are at risk of jeopardizing operations for any
new issues.
“The packaged software
maintenance model is broken.
Don’t reward software vendors
for it by staying on their upgrade
treadmill at their arbitrary 18
or 22 percent a year of software
‘license value.’ … ”
Vinnie Mirchandani
Deal Architect
Important considerations for 11.2.0.4 customers:
―― Release 11.2.0.4 entered Extended Support in January 2015. Extended support is
typically at an increased cost. Oracle provided a waiver to the increased Extended
Support fee, however that waiver expires December 31, 2018. After this date, your
maintenance fees will increase.
―― According to Oracle, Extended Support may or may not include certification with
some new third-party products/versions.5
―― While it may be easier to upgrade to 12c from 11g than from earlier releases,
upgrading is still a complex process. Before you walk down that path, you should
independently verify the ROI you anticipate by upgrading.
Can you provide your board with a solid business case for upgrading, based on data
and assumptions that are not provided by Oracle? Many will struggle with how to
develop a strong business case, but this is a crucial step. Due diligence is required
when deciding to move forward with an upgrade because it can otherwise limit your
ability and resources to focus on more strategic issues.
Oracle Database 12c Release
Oracle Database 12c is Oracle’s latest and greatest. The multitenancy feature is
important to those interested in moving to the cloud
Users of Oracle Database 12c should consider the following important points:
―― Check your tickets for Oracle Database support. How often do you actually need
support? You may consider Oracle Support an insurance policy, but is the high
cost of that policy really worth it?
―― If you’re already using 12c, you should be very content for the next five years
or more. It is unlikely Oracle will release any new functionality that will be
critical and provide an ROI for your business. Even the newest release 12.2 is
primarily delivering only minor enhancements for existing features like inmemory and multi-tenant functionality.
4 https://blogs.oracle.com/UPGRADE/entry/no_patches_anymore_for_oracle.
5 Oracle Software Technical Support Policies: 26-January-2017.
Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
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“Why switch to Rimini Street
Support? It works. It’s smooth.
It’s a huge nonevent. And you
get robust support. You take
the driver’s seat, and you save
money. It’s almost too good to
be true.”
Mark Wikingstad,
Chief Information Officer
UCI International
Options Oracle Database Licensees Should
Consider on All Releases
1. Continue to pay 22 percent or more for support that is seldom used — and is
potentially of little value if you are on Sustaining Support.
2.Switch to independent support — As a Rimini Street client, you are assigned a
named Primary Support Engineer (PSE) who will respond to every critical support
request in 15 minutes or less. (Actual average response time is less than five
minutes.) Our PSEs work closely with a team of Oracle Database technical and
functional experts. This ultra-responsive service is available 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, 365 days a year. With Rimini Street, you also retain the option of
upgrading at a later date to the most current release you’re entitled to at the time
you leave — but you’ll upgrade only if and when it makes sense for your business,
not just because upgrading is high on Oracle’s agenda for your strategic roadmap.
Key Advantages of Independent Support
Customers who switch to Rimini Street Support for Oracle Database enjoy the
following benefits:
―― Cost savings: Save 50 percent over Oracle annual support fees and remain on your
current database release for as long as you wish — five, ten, fifteen years or more.
―― Deep expertise: The Rimini Street program for Oracle Database licensees includes
support for all aspects and components of the Oracle Database product including:
―― Active Data Guard
―― Application Express
―― Data Masking
―― Database Diagnostics and Configuration
―― Database Vault
―― Enterprise Manager
―― In-Memory Database Cache
―― OLAP
―― Partitioning
―― Performance Tuning
―― Real Application Clusters (RAC)
―― Warehouse Builder
―― Expert database consulting at no additional charge: With independent support
from Rimini Street, you receive expert consultation from our Technology
Support Services experts around best practices, configurations and hardware.
This helps ensure interoperability, security and optimal system performance.
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Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
―― Database virtualization support: Regardless of where the issue lies, Rimini
Street will work with you to diagnose the problem and determine a solution —
without finger-pointing.
―― Tailored, holistic approach to security: 74 percent of Oracle Database users say
they are at least one CPU cycle behind6. CPU cycles is six months to a year or
more, before a patch is actually applied — and that’s after Oracle finally releases
the patch. Some vulnerabilities are never patched by Oracle. Companies relying on
CPUs are vulnerable. Rimini Street can guide you in applying a holistic approach
to security to keep your database secure without constant patching.
Oracle Database Client Snapshot:
BDP International
Industry: Transportation/Distribution
Revenue: $2 Billion
―― Option to upgrade to the current Oracle Database version at a later date:
When you switch to Rimini Support for Oracle Database, you can upgrade if and
when it makes sense for your business, because during our onboarding process
you have the option of archiving all the updates, patches, scripts, documentation
and files that you need to upgrade.
Employees: 3,700
The Software Vendor Support Model Is
Expensive and Outdated
Expert diagnosis of performance
problem areas, root cause analysis,
and action plans to restore system
performance at no extra charge are
a huge benefit for BDP as its system
usage grows, plus savings allowed BDP
to reallocate funds and resources to
more strategic initiatives.
Fairness and Relevance of Vendor Support Model Questioned
The big software vendors have enjoyed a virtual monopoly on support services for
their products. With today’s 90 percent profit margins on support operations, every
10 dollars you pay a vendor the vendor spends only one dollar on actual support.
Customers are coming to the conclusion that the vendor support model is at best
dated — and at worst obsolete and grossly unfair to the enterprise software licensee.
And industry analysts agree: You may be spending too much on enterprise software
annual support and receiving limited value in return. Ongoing maintenance and
operational costs typically consume the majority of all IT budgets, with only 11
percent available for business transformation initiatives.7
High-Cost, Low-Value Maintenance Expenses Limit Innovation
Ongoing Operaons
and Enhancements
IT SPENDING
CATEGORIES
BDP International selected Rimini
Street to support its Oracle Database
and reduce its annual support fees by
50 percent.
“We took the money that we had
budgeted for Oracle support and
were able to leverage that to help
us build cool new applications to
keep our existing clients happy
and aggressively attract new
customers.”
Jason Bullock,
Executive Director IT Global
Infrastructure and Support
BDP International
IT Spending Categories*
89%
Oracle Database 8.1, 9.2, 10.2, and 11.2
11%
Business Transformaon
Iniaves
6 IOUG – DBA—SECURITY SUPERHERO, 2014 IOUG Enterprise Data Security Survey
7 Gartner, “Gartner IT Key Metrics Data, 2016 IT Enterprise Summary Report,” December 14, 2015
Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
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White Paper
“Univera has relied on Rimini
Street’s support for Oracle EBS
and Oracle Technology since 2012.
We appreciate the significant
investments Rimini Street has
made in order to deliver robust
support for these complex Oracle
products. By switching to Rimini
Street, Univera has received more
responsive service and we have
redirected the savings to more
strategic projects needed by
the business.”
Ron Billock, CIO
Univera, Inc.
Next Steps: You Have a Choice of Annual
Support Providers
A Better Option: Oracle Database Licensees Realize Value
with Rimini Street
Hundreds of world-class organizations are exercising their right to select the annual
support provider that best fits their needs and budget.
Independent support from Rimini Street replaces your annual support program from
the vendor. Rimini Street provides premium support so you can continue to run
your Oracle Database cost effectively for the next decade or longer with no required
upgrades. Oracle Database licensees choose independent support from Rimini
Street for:
―― Substantial cost savings: Rimini Street offers guaranteed savings of 50
percent over vendor annual support fees.
―― Premium, relevant, cutting-edge service model: Rimini Street delivers guaranteed
ultra-responsive support and premium features such as support for security,
interoperability and performance tuning — all at no additional cost.
―― Greater strategic flexibility: Rimini Street can help you avoid costly upgrades;
extend the life of your current, stable database release; and reduce risk as you
position yourself for the next proven technology platform.
Calculate your savings: 50 percent off the annual support fees is just the tip of the
iceberg. Upgrade avoidance and maintenance efficiencies deliver other savings that
can be easily calculated for your company by going to
www.riministreet.com/savings-calculator
Many organizations use independent support as a key aspect of their application
strategy, reallocating the savings from independent support to address real business
problems involving their systems, while evaluating new technologies at their own
pace — not according to a vendor’s release timeline and agenda.
10 Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
Database Licensees
This paper has pointed out the very real issues around using vendor support:
expense, less-than-optimal responsiveness and forced upgrades. Rather than going
that route, you may want to consider Rimini Street independent support because it
offers the following undeniable benefits.
―― Move to independent support. Save 50 percent on annual support and
maintenance fees.
―― Maximize the value of current releases — Extend the longevity of your stable and
established database and avoid an upgrade with no business value. And know
that you can upgrade your Oracle Database to the most current version as of the
time you leave the vendor under Rimini Street Support if you wish.
―― Use your savings from independent support. Address real business problems
around your system, such as ongoing innovation and ever-changing
business requirements.
For More Information
To learn more about getting the most out of your Oracle database support, let’s talk
at www.riministreet.com/contact-us or [email protected].
Rimini Street | Getting the Most From Your Oracle Database Support
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About Rimini Street, Inc.
Worldwide Headquarters
Rimini Street is the global leader in providing independent enterprise software support services. The
company has redefined enterprise support services since 2005 with an innovative, award-winning program
that enables Oracle and SAP licensees to save up to 90 percent on total support costs. Clients can remain on
their current software release without any required upgrades for at least 15 years. Over 1000 global, Fortune
500, midmarket, and public sector organizations from a broad range of industries have selected Rimini Street
as their trusted, independent support provider.
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Las Vegas, NV 89169
Toll Free 888-870-9692 | Main 702-839-9671
Fax 702-973-7491
[email protected]
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and the Rimini Street logo are registered trademarks of
Rimini Street, Inc. All other brand and product names
are trademarks or registered trademarks of their
respective holders. LT-US-031417